So Many Fish in the Sea
by LilyGinnyBlack
Summary: This is going to be a series of one-shots/drabbles based off of a 30 Day Challenge prompt on Tumblr. Rating, genre, and character focuses are subject to change depending on what each prompt ends up being about. Current prompt -future-Yuki thinks about how unpredictable the future can be. -Complete-
1. Beginning

_**So Many Fish in the Sea**_

_**By:** LilyGinnyBlack_

**Disclaimer: Nothing in this fic belongs to me, it is all © at A-1 Pictures (studio), Aniplex, Fuji TV, and Dentsu (production), Sentai Filmworks (US & Canada license), Toshiya Ono (writer), and Kenji Nakamura (director). **

_A/N: As was stated in the summary, this will be a series of thirty one-shots based off of a 30 Day Challenge prompt that was floating around Tumblr. So, each chapter will be one prompt (of varying lengths, though most likely kept within the drabble range). Also, I will be going to ConnectiCon on the 12th until the 15th of July, and while I will have the prompts written up beforehand, I will not have the time to publish them here until after it is all over. However, I will have them on queue on my Tumblr (which goes by the same name as my user name here)._

_Anyway, this is getting long enough as it is, and I hope you enjoy this first little drabble!_

~()~

**Word Count:** 352

**Prompt One: **Beginning

A little boy, three years of age, raced down the stairs of his home. He had an old green cap, which was slightly too big for his head, covering the mess of black hair that stuck out the sides. His large brown eyes, which seemed to sparkle in excitement, were partially concealed behind large, black glasses. And in the young boys hand was a small, black colored fishing rod that was swinging back and forth as he jumped from one foot to the next, as if he had a desperate attack of 'needing to go pee-pee,' but in actuality he was simply in capable of keeping his enthusiasm bottled up any longer.

"Hurry up, Papa! If you don't, all the big fishes will be goned!" The boy shouted loudly up the stairs, in a way that seemed to proclaim this situation as an emergency that was in need of desperate attention.

A string of pleasant laughter came trailing down the stairs with a man, either in his late twenties or very early thirties. The man had a similar black rod as the young boy, except that it was larger in size, and was obviously the boy's papa. He placed a hand on top of the boy's head and corrected the boy's previous statement, "It's 'will be gone,' Natsuki. And don't worry, the fish aren't goin' anywhere. There are tons of 'um in the sea!"

"Oh," the young boy, Natsuki, blinked and then stayed silent for a minute. He was taking in the information his father had just provided him with. Natsuki's father took advantage of his son's silence and took his hand, with a shout of "We're heading out!" the two walked out of the house and onto the narrow main road of Enoshima.

"Hey, papa," Natsuki began, as his father picked him and settled him on his own shoulders, "since there are soooo many big fishes in the sea…I'm gonna get the biggest fish and be the bestest!" Natsuki's father just laughed, not bothering to fix his son's grammatical mistakes.

"Well then, " Natsuki's father added, "let's start fishin'!"


	2. Accusation

_A/N: Hey there, everyone, I hope you all enjoy this second installment and let me know what you think of it in a review. Take care~_

-()-

**Word Count:** 540

**Prompt Two:** Accusation

Urara did not like being back on his home planet. He was surrounded by his people, which had been comforting at first, but merely hours afterwards he had already been presented with gossip and mutterings behind his back. Everyone gave him those fake, polite smiles and they all talked to him with pleasantries and forced sympathy, all of which were traits that his people were infamous for and which he now really, honestly, despised.

The only two who did not were Haru and Coco.

They had given him him real smiles and they had both chorused the mantra of "It'll be okay!" over and over and over again, as if saying it enough times would actually make it true. Even though he knew that they could not do much, their support amongst the suspicious looks and exaggerated chitchat (he never attacked or ate any of the humans!) was greatly wanted and needed.

The trip from planet Earth to his home planet had taken quite a while, and during that time not only had ridiculous rumors rippled through the waters, but it had given the goddess from the legend –their queen- enough time to get a trial ready and waiting for him the day after his return.

Which is how Urara found himself answering question after question after question about his time on Earth, in which he confirmed that he had never eaten a human nor attacked one, but that –yes- he _had_ caused them to dance and that for a short time he had taken on the appearance of a large dragon in order to scare them away. He also admitted that he had done all of that because he had been scared.

It was after that when the queen seemed to take pity on him and end the question and answer session. She had a sentence for him: he would have to go back to Earth on a probation period, with Haru and Coco as his chaperones, for five years. During that time he was required to experience the everyday lives of human beings, get to know the residence of planet Earth, and give back to them at any possible chance in order to make up for the uproar he had caused.

To Urara, Haru, and Coco this was seen as a very fair and fitting punishment. To the other members of their home planet, however, it was just another bit of tasty hearsay that eventually turned into accusations of the queen having gone too easy on Urara for various reasons: perhaps because she had fancied him or because she had been taken in by his 'cute and innocent' act.

The list of possibilities went on and on, and while they made Urara upset, Haru had just sent large grins his way while saying, "See? It's okay! We'll get to see Yuki and the others again!" And whenever he said that, Urara suddenly felt better because, even though his interactions with them had only been for mere minutes, he already knew that the people on Earth were far nicer than those on his own home planet.

So, getting to know them some more did not seem like all that bad of an idea.


	3. Restless

Prompt Three: Restless

Word Count: 219

Every time that red ball soared into the sky, Haru got distracted by it: thinking about his love for red things, which just caused him to think about his home, and then to think of JFX. And every time he thought of JFX, he got scared. So scared that he would flinch and the red, shining ball would miss the mark, hitting the side of the wooden cup and falling to the side, where it hung listlessly.

And every time he glanced down at the ball, he would think of how useless he was, and how pointless all this fishing was. It was all too dangerous and they wouldn't be able to do anything against JFX in the end…But he didn't want JFX to hurt his friends, either. And so, his fingers would twitch and the whole act repeated itself: the red ball would fly into the air, he would caught up in its red color, think bad –hopeless- thoughts, and the ball would miss.

Every time.

Over and over and over again.

But this was all he _could_ do, even though he _wanted_ to do so much more.

Ah, that jolt ran through his fingers again, and once more the red ball rose into the clear, blue sky – ready to fall and fail.


	4. Snowflake

_A/N: __Hey there, everyone! I hope you like this newest installment. Let me know what you think of it in a review and take care~_

__-()-

Prompt Four: Snowflake

Word Count: 336

_-Snip, snip-_

The scissors glided across the folded white paper, twisting here and turning there at random intervals. All the while Kate hummed as she sat on the couch, stopping her scissors only on the brief occasion to bend down and pick up some fallen white paper.

Now that it was nearing winter, Kate was preparing the decorations for the house, which always included a string of paper snowflakes. In past years Yuki was always right there beside her, helping her, but this year he was not. She did not mind in the least, though, because this year Yuki, her precious Yuki, had friends. He never had them before. When he was little the children all got frightened by the facial expressions he made when he got nervous. And when he was in junior high and high school, the pre-teens and teens all just laughed at him, and saw him as an oddity. Kate knew this, even though Yuki always tried so hard to hide it from her.

But, this past summer, Yuki made near and dear friends. So, when she had asked him if he would like to help her decorate, and he mentioned (looking ashamed and slightly guilty) that himself, Haru, Urara, and Coco already had other plans for the day, Kate had just smiled wide at him. She was so happy for him. She shuu-ed him away and told him to leave it up to her (reminding him that he had nothing to feel ashamed or guilty about), and that when he returned with the others, this place would be a winter wonderland that would make his alien friends awestruck.

Chuckling to herself, she glanced around her at the pile of cut-out snowflakes. She had a feeling Yuki would be returning home soon, and she had a lot to put up, so putting the scissors down on the table and picking up a large roll of tape in its place, Kate figured she had better hop to it.


	5. Haze

Prompt Five: Haze

Word Count: 216

Erika wasn't quite sure when it had happened, but one second she had been running through the typhoon, wind and rain splashing in her face while people screamed and shouted and danced around her, the next she still had some stray wind and rain splashing her face…but the people were silent and still, just looking up at the sky as the clouds cleared…and as fish poured down on them. She had been brainwashed by the Dragon, by JFX, as Yuki and the others had called it.

During the time she was under the Dragon's control she could just barely remember her body moving of its own accord, and she could just barely recall the sound of her voice chanting out "Haino, haino, haino! Yoshio, yoshiona!"

But now she had her body and mind back, and really, after learning that aliens were actually real, the fish falling from the sky was nothing new. Instead, she was far more worried about her grandfather and rushed off to his side. He told her that we was perfectly fine, started rambling about the "new" legend that was just created that day…

And then asked her if she could go and collect some of those fish to cook up and eat later tonight for dinner.


	6. Flame

_A/N: Hey everyone, I am back from con now, so I am posting the prompts that I did for six, seven, and eight. ^^ I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think of them in a review. Take care! (^^)/_

__-()-

Prompt Six: Flame

Word Count: 400

Sakura placed the cake down on the table, it was a rather large cake, but she figured that was because half of it was going to get destroyed anyway. Once it was set on the table, Sakura watched the candle go in and watched the small flame catch hold of the tiny wick. The fire on the candle flickered back and forth, side to side, even when there appeared to be no breeze at all.

It was mesmerizing.

That solitary candle, in the shape of a one in order to celebrate Satsuki's first birthday, quite a bit of effort had to go into making sure that the flame took to the wick and that the wax did not drool too much onto the cake and that the candle would not get blown out before its time…

They all sang happy birthday to the cheerfully clapping and gurgling little girl. And then they all helped her blow it out as Satsuki already began to tear the cake to pieces. Sakura did not really care about that. Her mind was caught up on just how quickly and effortlessly the candle was blown out. Just one semi-powerful burst of air and it was gone. Nothing was left in its place, but a gray trail of smoke and some partially melted candle wax.

It was amazing how a flame could be lit, burning brightly, and then extinguished in the matter of minutes. So short.

Sakura sighed.

It was going to take some time getting used to celebrating Satsuki's birthday, because it was only a mere week before the anniversary of her mother's death. When one person dies, another one gets born. That was how it worked, just like with that tiny flame.

Sakura knew that it was going to be hard, but she was not going to give up and not even bother trying either, after all, life is here and gone before anyone even notices – so she might as well make the best of it.

Replacing her tight expression with an honest smile, Sakura picked up a napkin and wiped some frosting off of Satsuki's face. The small baby just laughed and grinned and swung her hands around in every which direction that Sakura had no choice but to giggle and grin back as well, forgetting for the moment, about the short lifespan of a candle's flame.


	7. Formal

Prompt Seven: Formal

Word Count: 328

Between the sweat and the heat it felt horribly uncomfortable. Ayumi was not a man suited to a suit and tie. He kept wanting to rip off his tie and scratch his neck, tear off the long sleeves until they were T-shirt length, and to cut his pants until they were the length of shorts.

At least his suit was white, though. Had it been black…Ayumi was not fully sure what he would have done, except he knew that it would not have been all that good. Light colors fit him better than dark, grim ones did. Especially black, him and black just _did not_ mix. And Misaki, cute and precious Misaki, had known that right from the start. Right after they decided to get married, she told him that they should both wear white. He was extremely pleased by this.

He was not, however, extremely pleased by the stuffiness found within the air nor with the restricted feeling that came with wearing a suit and tie.

…Though, a part of him did wonder if it all was just a case of very bad nerves, or if he really did just hate being clothed in such a fancy outfit. Most likely it was a combination of both.

His mind continued to wonder and his body continued to feel out of place and just plain awful. That was, until he saw her, his beautiful Misaki, dressed in a gorgeous white gown. She had a huge grin on her face and the fancy clothes did not seem to bother her or restrict her in anyway like it did him.

But with every step closer that she took, the sweat and heat and desire to shred his suit and tie to pieces, all started settling down and going away. Until she was standing right beside him, taking her hand in his, and it was like those little annoyances were never even there to begin with.


	8. Companion

Prompt Eight: Companion

Word Count: 423

_Quack! Quack, quack! QUACK!_

No matter how many times Tapioca explained it to her partner; he always let his jealousy get the best of him. He did not like how much time Tapioca spent in the company of her Akira. A human male that she not only saw as a "buddy" but also as one of her little ducklings that she needed to take care of. He was her oldest little duckling, in fact. But her partner would have none of that.

He would just yell and scream and overact, not listening to anything she had to say, and eventually she would just swim away and waddle over to Akira, who was _always_ fishing (she was certain that he used his fishing as a healing mechanism to make him feel closer to his near and dear (and first!) human friends). She would quack once to get his attention, and then he would pick her up and place her in his lap. There, in the presence of her littlest ducking, she would quack away –going on and on and on about all of her issues- he would try to comfort her and would fill in the silences between her quacks with empty phrases like, "I know," and "I understand what you mean."

Of course, those small interjections were perfectly fine the way they were – lacking any meaning behind them. Akira always pretended as if he knew _exactly_ what she was telling him, and while sometimes he hit the mark by chance, most of the time he really did not know what she was talking about at all. But that was perfectly fine with her as well; they managed to get along so well for so long now that understanding each other through words was mostly unnecessary anyway. And right now all Tapioca needed was someone whom she could rant and rave to without any disturbance and without waking up her biological ducklings.

Akira went about his nodding and 'uh-hums' and 'ahhs,' until eventually her anger fizzled out and she could only manage to let out a tired quack. It was at this point that her (big) little duckling would pet her and cuddle her until she fell asleep. And every time she would wake up, Akira would be bringing her back to the water. She would waddle back in and her partner would quack out an apology while her (actual) little ducklings would lazily and groggily swim over to her, chorusing "We're hungry! Feed us!" along the way.


	9. Move

Prompt Nine: Move

Word Count:

Yuki had been to Narita Airport far too many times over the period of one, single month. First it had been to wish Ayumi and Misaki well wishes on their honeymoon, and then it was to remind Akira that he did, in fact, have friends and that his friends here in Japan would miss him while he was off doing his job in some remote faraway place (luckily close to the sea). Then it was to greet Ayumi and Misaki back from their honeymoon, at which point both Yuki and Natsuki noted that Ayumi took up the habit of wearing blue shirts instead of pink ones.

And finally, today, it was to be there to say good-bye to Natsuki as he headed off towards the United States of America – a country on a continent on the complete and utter opposite side of the world. Natsuki was making his way up into the big leagues –his dream was coming true- and for that Yuki was happy for him…But another part of Yuki was a jumbled up mixture of scared, uncertain, and horribly sad. Out of the close friends that he made this past summer, Natsuki was the only one that he had left.

So, as he watched Natsuki give him a large smile and a short wave, acts which he tried to reciprocate back (but most likely failed at doing so), as he turned his back and headed for the terminal, Yuki felt hands on both of his shoulders. One was rather large and greatly calloused, the other was calloused as well, and just as rough, but smaller. Ayumi and Misaki were right by his side, the former teary eyed. As Yuki turned around his met those of his grandmother's as well as Natsuki's family, as well as the Erika and her grandfather.


	10. Silver

Prompt Ten: Silver

Word Count: 325

Yuki could never remember a time when his grandmother's hair was anything but grey. There _were_ old pictures, of course, but in person he could only recall her hair being beautiful and shiny and silver. In those slightly faded color photos, her hair was red – just like him, and just like his mother, according to his grandmother and the photos that could always be found sparsely around their house.

He had never met his parents before, at least, not at an age at which he could remember them. So, whenever anyone asked him about his mother, he told them about his grandmother, and whenever Mother's Day came around, the celebration was for his grandmother.

When they were told to draw family portraits in elementary school, he always grabbed the red and silver (never grey) crayons, while everyone else went for brown and black. It hurt him, when he heard his classmates make fun of his grandmother and himself. When they teased him for having red hair and being that nail that stuck out, rather than being one of the ones that was nailed in, nice and tightly, and doing its job well. Those taunts made it so that he could never make a friend, his grandmother's nomadic-esque lifestyle did not help matters either.

And even though it was due to the bullying that he developed the horrible habit of rambling off in his head while his face contorted into a pained expression and nothing but odd, nonsensical stammering was emitted from his mouth, if someone ever made fun of his grandmother, saying that she was old and ugly with her grey hair, Yuki always mumbled back (for that was all he could manage, but it was a large step up from stuttering) that his grandmother was pretty and that she had _silver_ hair, not grey. Such a small word choice really did make all the difference.

It still did.


	11. Prepared

Prompt Eleven: Prepared

Word Count: 100

Haru was ready for anything now. He could taste the metallic lure clenched between his teeth, feel the slight tug of the fishing wire around his neck, smell the salt in the breeze as it whipped around his face, hear the thudding of his feet as he ran across the boat, and see the storm ahead – high, crashing waves and dark, heavy clouds. Rushing past Akira, Tapioca, Natsuki, and finally Yuki, Haru's heart seemed to be pounding within his chest. It was pumping courage through his veins, through his whole body.

He jumped; soaring.


	12. Knowledge

Prompt Twelve: Knowledge

Word Count: 193

Documentation was a very important thing, especially when it came to once-in-a-lifetime moments; such as fending off and imprisoning nasty dragons of the sea or encountering and interacting with beautiful goddesses who have descended from the sky to walk amongst mortals in a small, lowly village by the sea.

Only mere hours earlier the goddesses had ascended back into the heavens after having tamed and chained the temperamental dragon of the sea. So now she, the current _miko_ of Enoshima Shrine, was slowly and delicately painting out the detail of events on a wall scroll. The first event, of the dragon's arrival, took place months before, but was still fresh in her mind. Every tiny thing that she could recall, or that others brought up to her when they came to visit got added to the painting: the document.

With one final swipe of the brush it was done. Placing the brush down by her side and examining her work, the _miko_ was pleased. Now if, for some reason, the dragon of the sea were to awaken, those in the future would know just what to do.


	13. Denial

Prompt Thirteen: Denial

Word Count: 340

Kate could tell just by looking at them. Coco could tell, too, along with little Sakura, Ayumi, Misaki, and even Erika, who never really hung out with any of them. If anyone where to ask the people of Enoshima they would all say "yes," without a moment's hesitation. Urara picked up on it, the first time he saw them all together, as he stood shuffling his feet, twirling a strand of his hair, and looking at anything and everything but them. They were fortified and he could not just barge in and break it all.

But they, themselves, did not even seem to notice the small touches –a hand being held here, a cheek being touched there- that occurred between them all, nor the soft gentle glances and the unspoken communication that seemed to exist between all of them. If someone were to bring this up to them, they would all respond with a "no," without even giving the observation a second thought.

And, if you caught them individually, then Yuki would always break it down logically by first stating that, "He's a fish," before continuing on with all the others. Haru would just shake his head fervidly, as if too frightened to even talk about such a complex human emotion. Natsuki always took off his glasses, cleaning them and examining them, and after he placed them back on, he would run his hand through his hair and talk about how things like age and distance messes it all up –makes it become something that is too bothersome. Finally, Akira always got huffy and defensive, and it would soon turn into ramblings that only ever came to an end when Tapioca, fed up with him, would give his hand a quick peck with her beak.

This was the never ending cycle that existed between all four of them, and the others all hoped and prayed that one day –someday soon- one of them would break that cycle so then all of them could see it, too.


	14. Wind

Prompt Fourteen: Wind

Word Count: 300

Coco liked spending her time up on top of the Sky Tree. Not only did it allow her to look down on everything; the blue-blue sea, the green-green trees and flora, the ornate and colorful tops of the shrine buildings and homes of Enoshima, and the tall, grey structures of the city known as Tokyo in the distance. During sunrise and sunset, the sun burned bright and hot, and the clouds were dyed deep, deep red, pink, and orange – all the colors one could think of.

But, being up on the tip-top of the Sky Tree brought a whole experience to Coco, that of the breeze. The planet she and Haru came from was one of water. They had infrastructure and they saw the sun and sky way, way up above…But no one ever really left the seas unless it was to go to some other planet. So, the breeze was simply something that she never felt there.

Here, at Enoshima, she felt the breeze every day. It was strongest up on the Sky Tree, and that was also where the salty smell was at its most powerful. She loved it, because it reminded her of home in one way, and yet was an experience that she only had here, on Earth. It was something specific and special to Enoshima, Japan. And every time she felt the breeze go by, felt it play with her hair and make the small hairs on her human body stand up a little, she also felt rejuvenated when it came to her and Haru's mission.

Taking a deep breath of that sea breeze, Coco knew that they _would_ capture their companion and bring him home, just like they set out to do. Nothing was going to stop them.


	15. Order

Prompt Fifteen: Order

Word Count: 415

George Ace did not know how to handle the current Yamada that he was speaking to over the phone. Normally, Yamada was silent and obedient. He, for the most part, followed the dress code and enjoyed his curry. He and Tapioca had bonded instantly and worked well as a team. Usually, when he put Yamada on a job, the issue was taken care of shortly thereafter.

This time though…while stubborn as usual in his thoughts and views, Yamada was loud and shouting; defiantly going against any and all commands that had been given by himself and the upper level members of DUCK. He even went so far as to _befriend_ the alien enemies!

Everything in George Ace's mind was telling him that Yamada had been possessed and brainwashed by those alien "friends" of his. This was the part of him that kept threatening Yamada. The part of him that kept reminding Yamada of his duty as a member of DUCK and the part of himself that kept repeating the instructions he had been given by the higher ups to his young subordinate.

The other part of himself, which was located somewhere in the general vicinity of his heart, wanted to believe in Yamada; this was the part of himself that held faith in his (usually) always loyal subordinate. It was the part of himself that was reprimanding his brain. If Yamada was friends with these aliens, if he trusted them and wanted to work with them, then he, George Ace, should let him do just that. This was the part of him that was worried sick about Yamada getting hurt or dying out at sea, among the splashing and crashing waves, frenzy wind, and the ever darkening and clouding sky.

A large war was waging within his body. In his ears ringed the sound of Yamada's voice demanding that those missiles stay stationary as he and his companions 'saved the world,' meanwhile his fingertips twitched over the small red button he would have to press down on to green light the next level of action. Lightly, lightly, ever so gently, his fingers kept pushing down on that button. Around him the other members of DUCK began to get antsy. They desired some form of action. There looks along were weighing down on him.

And all he had to do was apply just a bit more pressure downward with the tip of his finger, thus giving out the order, but…


	16. Thanks

Prompt Sixteen: Thanks

Word Count: 330

Yuki, Haru, and Urara were walking back from their first fishing outing since the two aliens (plus Coco, to Yuki's surprise) returned to planet Earth. Haru was not rusty at all, despite having steered clear of fishing rods for a while and returning to a planet of sea, and Urara had been far better, Yuki was sure, than he had been when he first tried.

Now, the sun was setting and they were walking amicably together, with only the crashing waves and their footsteps making any sound. A moment later, however, Haru's bobbing fishing rod went still. Yuki had not noticed at first, lost a bit in his own thoughts as he had been. But then Urara made an odd sort of sound, and Yuki turned to his side, only to see Haru missing.

The blond was stopped a ways behind them, with a look of almost painful concentration on his face. "Haru! What's the matter?" Yuki called out to him. Haru simply beckoned Urara over. The bluenette got a bit fidgety, shifting his feet from side to side, but Yuki just gave him a light push in Haru's direction and he was off, scurrying over until he was standing right in front of the blond.

Haru had to stretch a bit for his lips to reach Urara's ears, but mere seconds later the whispered message had been received and Haru had both his feet planted firmly on the ground again. Urara shuffled back over to Yuki, with Haru by his side, and then bowed deeply.

"Thank you for teaching me how to fish."

The words were said in an overly formal way of speaking, and Urara's head was bent so low that it sounded like nothing more than a murmur, but none of that bothered Yuki in the slightest. Instead, he just laughed, and when Urara finally lifted up his head and looked at him, Yuki smiled too. "You're welcome."

Urara smiled back.


	17. Look

Prompt Seventeen: Look

Word Count: 139

To Natsuki the geography, the language, the culture, the society, and even the weather –though only slightly- was all so different from the home that he was used to. Everything was so loud and everything was so big…so wide. When walking down the street, if another person passed by, they caught your eyes on purpose, gave you a smile, and said hi. The constantly downward set eyes and silent encounters all but disappeared in the United States of America.

Everywhere Natsuki looked, nothing really seemed familiar…except for the sea. When he watched the fish swimming below the bodies of water, he instantly felt at home. And the small bouts of culture shock, of being homesick, and of being slightly scared and uncertain were all washed away the moment he casted his fishing rod.


	18. Summer

Prompt Eighteen: Summer

Number Count: 195

Like every year before, this summer was muggy. The air was thick, though luckily a sharp, cool breeze would slice through it every now and again due to Enoshima's close proximity to the sea. Just like every summer there was the sound of children enjoying themselves outside accompanied by a call or two by a parent that the child needed to come inside now to eat, do some summer homework, or (most commonly) both. The desire to do nothing in the blazing heat was the same as ever, too.

The only thing that differed was the underlying spark in the usual, lazy summer atmosphere. The old priest at the Enoshima Shinto Shrine, and the mayor of Enoshima, knew all too well what was coming this summer: the dragon. And he was going to be here through it all, making sure that it got captured for good this time and brought back to wherever it came from.

But he mentioned none of this to anyone, as he listened to the meowing discontent of the cats that roamed the area and stood up, ready to start the days Enoshima Dance lesson.


	19. Transformation

Prompt Nineteen: Transformation

Word Count: 365

Yuki's heart was pounding.

Haru's heart was pounding.

This was it.

In a moment, in a second, both Yuki and Haru would stare reality straight in the face: Yuki was a human and Haru was a fish. This human form that Haru held…As much as his mind was now accustomed to the movement, to the detailed thoughts, to the odd needs, wants, and desires and as much as he now understood the complex culture and society that came with having a human body…It was still just that, a human body.

He was really and truly a fish.

Regardless of that, Yuki had stuttered and spluttered out an "I love you." And it made Haru happy – so very, very happy, but he could not take it fully to heart yet. No, not when Yuki had not seen his true self. As it was now, Yuki could just delude himself into thinking that Haru was human despite the all of the evidence contrary, such as the small, empty bucket that they kept under their bed and which they filled with water every night for Haru to dip his feet in. An action he needed to do every night, least his skin gets dry and he shrivels up and dies.

Yuki was nervous.

Haru was nervous.

But this was the moment. Haru closed his eyes.

Yuki was scared.

Haru was scared.

Yuki gulped. Haru body started shrinking. His arms, his legs, and his neck – they all disappeared into the fabric of shirts and shorts.

Hesitantly, Yuki grabbed a small bowl of water and started walking over to the bundle of clothes, taking note of where the fabric shifted and turned in order to locate the fish Haru as quickly as possible. And as his fingers pulled back a bright pink shirt and a pair of light blue pants, there was Haru: a tiny yellow fish with large and beautiful fins.

Before placing his precious, though overly fidgeting, Haru into the bowl of water, Yuki brought the fish close to his lips and kissed it, whispering, "I still love you." Haru's fidgeting stopped.

Once in the water, the small, yellow fished swam happily.


	20. Tremble

_A/N: Here is number twenty! This one is a lot longer than the other ones and I really enjoyed writing it actually. Let me know what you think of it in a review and take care! _

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Prompt Twenty: Tremble

Word Count: 689

The breeze was cold for a summer night. There was no humidity to speak of, and yet the atmosphere surrounding everyone was tense. For Haru, an alien fish who came from a cold planet, this unusual combination was one that made his human body feel so very odd. It felt as if it was constantly shivering, a sensation that Haru was not used to at all…And he had an inkling that it was not the coolness of the air that was causing the majority of his shaking.

While he tried, unsuccessfully, to gain better control over the way his body shook, the close presence of Akira seemed to be making it worse. By now Haru was over his fear of the man. They were friends. But there was still something about him that caused Haru's body to shudder, even more so now due to the weather. Haru did not know what that 'something' was. His human body seemed to have some idea, though.

Akira was not completely oblivious to Haru's body's quivers and shivers either, though Haru was certain Akira believed it was all because of the weather. And, though Akira did not notice it, his body was shaking slightly, too. Haru could tell. They were sitting so close to each other; closer, right then and there, than they had ever been in the past.

And, rather than just watching each other sit there, with their bodies shivering a little bit every now and again in a near complete silence (that was only broken by the quack of Tapioca, who seemed slightly disgruntled at the idea of being squished in Akira's arms as some sort of heat source), Haru decided to ask a question.

"Hmmm~ Akira, was it warm where you came from~?" By this point the blond had brought his legs up close to his chest, arms wrapped securely around them. They produced a tiny bit of heat that he, for all intents and purposes, did not really _need_, unlike his new friend, but which comforted him in some way.

"It wasn't warm-"

"Oh."

"It was very hot."

"Oooh…"

The silence recommenced.

Haru thought about breaking it again, but Akira appeared to be preoccupied with Tapioca, who, it seemed, finally had enough of his suffocating cuddling and put up a bit of a fuss. So, Haru thought that it was best to leave him alone and instead opted to really _look_ at Akira.

Usually liking bright, colorful things (like Yuki's hair), Haru was aware of the fact that Akira was none of that. Everything about his outfit was colorless and bland (with the exception of that bright yellow raincoat and cute duck umbrella), and everything about his physical appearance was dark. Yet, despite this lack of brilliant and near blinding color…now that Haru saw Akira as a friend rather than an enemy or a danger…It was rather appealing to him...

Ah! Their eyes met.

And…Ah! There went his body again, tensing up for a brief second only to release in another. A tremble.

This time Haru had no doubt: Akira had caused it.

More and more the sight of Akira alone sent sparks down Haru's human body. It called out to the part of him that was getting used to having hands and feet and lungs instead of gills. His true self, the fish that he really was, looked at Akira and once saw danger, now it saw safety, but that part also felt nothing for him. No, it was the part of him that was starting to understand the complex emotions and customs that human beings had…The part of him that _was_ human that found Akira to be extremely captivating…

That part caused his eyes to stray and his limbs to desire to move closer and to touch…

A shock of red entered Haru's vision. Yuki had returned, looking upset and rather frantic, and the fish inside him was instantly drawn to him and worried. Without a second thought he stood up, his mind completely focused on Yuki.

The near silent moment between him and Akira - pushed aside and forgotten…


	21. Sunset

Prompt Twenty-One: Sunset

Word Count: 383

Misaki watched as Ayumi (her now husband) fell face first into the sand, his pink bathing trunks clad bottom standing up in the air for all to see.

She giggled.

Her husband was a bit clumsy when he got overexcited, and he tended to get overexcited a lot. He was childish in that way and she found it to be very charming and attractive. Even when he was being silly, she thought he was being very cool. She also liked how he could always make her laugh. She liked that part of him even more than the side of him that felt macho after having caught a large fish.

And speaking of fish, even though it was their honeymoon, and even though they were supposed to do things like sit on the beach and watch the sunset as they kissed and ate something exotic (or perhaps chocolate covered strawberries), Misaki preferred their agenda: going fishing.

Picking up her fishing rod along with his, she made her way over to him. The midday sun was glaring down on her back, making it sweat and itch a bit, as her sandal clad feet trudged through the ever shifting sand. By the time she was by his side, he was steadily standing up as he brushed loose sand off of his body.

"Here," she said with a smile as she held out his fishing rod to take.

He replied with a simple 'thank you,' as she asked him what information, if any, he had come up with. "I was told that there is a really good fishing spot over there," he pointed to his right. Then he grabbed her hand and started dragging her as if he was a child in a toy store making a beeline for _that_ toy (that one, special toy that they have really, really wanted for a whole week!).

Picking up the pace a bit, only to watch her husband take another tumble into the sand, Misaki laughed wholeheartedly. Her and her husband may not have spent their honeymoon in a traditional way, but she was perfectly fine with that.

She would take a fumbling husband covered in sand and an afternoon spent fishing in the sea over sitting and watching a sunset any day.


	22. Mad

Prompt Twenty-Two: Mad

Word Count: 100

Yuki could never clearly recall his grandmother getting angry. She was always so patient and understanding with him. She gave him smiles instead of yells and listened to what he had to say, no matter how silly or mundane or just out right dumb it was.

Despite that Yuki had a fussy memory of his grandmother raising her voice, with the shadowed images of a man and woman that he just _knew_ were his parents, in the background...It was a painful memory, a painful subject…one he let fade more and more each passing year.


	23. Thousand

Prompt Twenty-Three: Thousand

Word Count: 100

Warning: Character Death

The three aliens never saw time as being something of great importance. Perhaps because, to them, a thousand years could pass by and they would still show no signs of death. So, for them, the fleeting nature of time was simply a concept that did not existence...until that day.

The day Kate passed away.

To the black clad humans visiting her funeral she was seen as having lived to a ripe old age, but to them she had not aged a day since they met her.

And for the first time: time was important.


	24. Outside

Prompt Twenty-Four: Outside

Word Count: 100

He did not go outside much during that summer.

It had been abnormally hot, and inside the store was where he got food and water and attention. Outside the air just felt weird and _she_ was there, with her orange feet and orange beak. Her pristine white feathers were always being ruffled. She stood taller than him and she always gave out this condescending "quack!" that did nothing but annoy him. So yes, that summer Boss mostly stayed inside, where he was king.

That day it rained fish though, he was outside for that.


	25. Winter

Prompt Twenty-Five: Winter

Word Count: 271

Haru looked at the scenery surrounding him, that of Enoshima, and took in a very mournful sight. The sky seemed to be constantly dark and the air was cold and the brilliant colors that the leaves had turned (which had made them oh-so tempting to Haru) were now all brown and crunchy. The trees all looked like they were dying, and so surely, the plants must have been like that, too.

The plants were dying.

This caused Haru to feel very upset. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes and that awful, burning pain that human beings got when they were not happy.

If the flowers died like this, then what did that say about himself, Haru? Earth's flowers were important to him. It was like they _were_ him or, at least, a part of him. After all, they needed water in order to live, too. But now they were dying even though there had been plenty of rain as of late.

Haru did not understand this. He was horribly confused and the only person he could think of to go to was Kate. She would know what to tell him.

And so, it was from Kate and her explanation of how flowers withered and died every year around this time, called "winter", and how they would bloom again in the "spring."

The cold may have reminded Haru of home, but those now dead (withered) flowers were what connected him to Earth. So, Haru came to the conclusion that he did not particularly like "winter" and would wait rather impatiently for "spring."


	26. Diamond

Prompt Twenty-Six: Diamond

Word Count: 256

"How about this one!" Natsuki looked at the ring that Ayumi had held out to him. On top of the tiny band was an obnoxiously large diamond. It was so large that Natsuki was certain that 1. Ayumi did not even have the money to afford it (and as much Natsuki saw the older man as an older brother, he was not lending him money in order to buy such a large wedding ring) and 2. Misaki would not want to lug around such an elaborate ring on her finger, especially since she had no plans of quitting her fishing hobby after getting married and becoming a wife.

Ayumi's eyes were staring at him, sparkling with excitement, and the smile on his face was that one he got whenever he thought he was being particularly cool with a certain action. Apparently buying an enormous diamond studded wedding ring was one of those actions. Natsuki largely thought otherwise.

Knowing exactly how to deal with this, Natsuki steeled his face and simply said, "No." Ayumi's face fell, crestfallen, but Natsuki paid it no mind as he asked, "And why am I here doing this with you? Shouldn't Misaki be here instead?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Ayumi mumbled as he put back the ring with its big diamond and drifted over to the smaller, and much more sensible, wedding rings instead.

Often times Natsuki wondered if Misaki really knew what she was getting into when it came to the Captain.


	27. Letters

Prompt Twenty-Seven: Letters

Word Count: 244

Despite the fact that the internet existed and that phones had the ability to send text messages in a flash, Natsuki still felt the desire to write home via snail mail, especially when it came to Yuki. By physically writing out his letters, he felt as if he could physically send a bit of himself back to the red head.

Being in America and making it big in the fishing world was a dream come true, no doubt, but he still missed Yuki horribly. So, it made him feel a large sense of warmth and relief and _home_ when he sat down at his desk, picked up a pen, and wrote out his feelings and thoughts to Yuki.

Every time he received a letter back from Yuki, Natsuki felt as if he could something new about him. For instance, the way he wrote. It was a lot more elegant and structured than his spoken words and sentences tended to be (though, of course, those aspects of Yuki had improved immensely since their first meeting on a train to school, a moment that seems so long ago now). Natsuki likes taking in the way Yuki slants his writing, the way he makes his characters, and all of those small aspects.

By examining all of these small things Natsuki felt as if he was getting closer and closer to Yuki, even though they had a whole ocean in between them.


	28. Promise

Prompt Twenty-Eight: Promise

Word Count: 186

They made a promise that they would meet up here for one week every summer. It did not matter where they were or what they were doing. It was a promise that had to be kept under any circumstances.

And so far it had.

Every summer, despite the changes in appearances, despite the changes in circumstances, despite the changes in relationships and the changes in the surrounding area: a building gone here, a new one constructed there or babies becoming children who then became teens and finally turned into adults. Those things always changed. They changed just as easily as the wind switching directions or picking up speed.

The only thing that did not change was their promise. Every summer the four of them met up for one week on the sandy beaches of Enoshima, shouting "ENO-SHIMA-DON!" as they casted their fishing rods in unison and passing the hours talking, smiling, and laughing like the youthful young adults they all once where when they first met.

Their promise was just as certain as the rising and setting of the sun.


	29. Simple

Prompt Twenty-Nine: Simple

Word Count: 126

Most people say that love is complicated.

Haru is not most people, being an alien and all; and he says that love is actually very simple.

You just love someone.

Yuki tries to tell him that loving someone is not always easy; Haru counters that loving someone should not be hard.

It should be natural.

Yuki informs the alien that humans do not work like that; Haru believes to the contrary.

Their argument eventually reaches a stalemate. Some people take Haru's side, others take Yuki's. Eventually the dispute gets forgotten over the years and just becomes another blurred memory of many.

And in the end, Yuki and Haru find both statements to be true.

Not that it really matters anymore.


	30. Future

_A/N: Here is the last one! I hope you all enjoyed this little series of one-shots and take care!_

__-()-

Prompt Thirty: Future

Word Count: 332

The future is a very uncertain thing. After all, in the past –during those days when Yuki found himself moving place to place and drowning in a wall of water in any and all social events-if you had said that he would be able to laugh and smile and _shout_ without his anxiety acting up…It really would have seemed like some dream that was far too good to be true.

Meanwhile, the bits about fish aliens who like the color red and use water in order to control the minds of humans and a twenty-five year old half-Japanese half-Indian who wears a turban that contains ham and has a duck for a companion…Such things he would have laughed at and simply thought to be crazy (of course, even though he already experienced these things, he still thought them to be crazy on some level).

Finally, learning how to fish, Yuki in the past simply would have denied it because, well, fishing was supposed to be boring. Dull. It was not something he ever had an interest in, and now it was an extremely large part of his life.

His life that was so very, very different to how it was in the past.

With the future everything is so uncertain and unknown. Anything and everything could change in a second. All it took was one encounter, one moment of eye contact, or one brief comment. So, as Yuki took in the sight of Haru at the front of the class, once again on Earth and by his side, and to Urara who was looking so unsure –so much like himself in the past-Yuki had no idea where, exactly, the future was going to end up for him.

But he liked the sense of mystery now and thought it best to take a bit of the future on for himself. So, he asked the bluenette beside him if he wanted to go fishing.

Fishing changed everything, always.


End file.
